In the debut film from Hong Kong director Ricky Ko, we get a look how the elderly are treated after having such a unique set of skills throughout their lives. The film starts like an old Shaw Brothers film, with a car pulling up outside a market while a man and a woman get out. Suddenly a lot of henchmen start to attack the couple and with their impressive martial arts skills they easily subdue the baddies. He has impressive martial arts training, attacking and dodging with precision, while she uses acrobatic moves to somersault over them and uses a chain to both repeal and beat the goons. Eventually the man takes out a small curved blade and gets to the boss who throws objects at him to no avail, before eventually the knife wielding man slices the bosses throat. This sequence not only features gravity defying stunts, but also moments of animation, like when an orange smashes into an aggressor’s face, freezing the action and causing the film to have a comic book look to it.
We later see that Chau, played by Patrick Tse, the knife wielding man, has aged considerably into his twilight years. He has traded in a dagger for a chef’s knife where he works in a shop making hand cut noodles. Except he is too slow at his job and is replaced by a robot who can make five bowls of noodles in a single minute. Fung, played by Bo-Bo Fung, the woman who was deft with whipping around a chain, has become a proprietor of a karaoke club that caters to an older crowd, where she is the main attraction. She lives with her adult son along with his wife and their young child, who all despise living on Grandma’s dime. Lastly there was Cheung, played by Suet Lam, who was the gang’s getaway driver. He now spends his days living in his van, sucking back coke’s and visiting his favourite sex worker at the local massage parlour whom he is in love with.
They group was both feared and admired, they were rich and sought after, but now they are like every other senior citizen, a pylon in the way of society waiting for them to just give up and die. They are reunited when they get offered a job to kill an old woman who’s medical debts are too high and it is easier for her and her despondent husband if she is killed. Unfortunately Chau doesn’t have the courage to do such a thing and when he sees on the news the next day the husband being arrested and the anchors discussing the poor state of affairs that seniors must face every day, he, and the rest of the group decide to be guardian angels for the infirmed. They will kill any senior that feels they are not valued in the world. They make a name for themselves so much that when Chau shows up for a job, he is surprised to see a teenage girl waiting to live stream him cutting her throat as she is too depressed to live. From there a reluctant bond is formed between the young girl and Chau as neither of them have any family to take care of one another as we learn their secrets.
The film makes use of its star powers, with Tse, Fung and Lam have almost 200 years of experience in film between them, as they all possess magnetic personalities. Chau is a reluctant (grand)father figure, who still has a deep well of compassion to give, Fung desperately wants to cling to her youth by performing in her cabaret bar and doing her best to hide her age behind wigs and makeup and Cheung, who is a hopeless romantic even if he presents a steely exterior. There are plenty of heartwarming and funny moments as the odd trio trade barbs about aging between arguments, as they comment on society’s general disdain for anyone past their primes. Unfortunately the film has a few moments that don’t make a lot of sense, like near the end, after two cabbies are arguing over who’s passenger was responsible for damaging the others car and the police get involved, Cheung decides to take the fall for the supposed crime as two police officers tackle him to the ground sending him to prison.
The film seems to be like a crossover from Lucky Grandma, another Chinese (but also American) movie about an aging woman who is able to fight off a crime syndicate and Shoplifters, a Korean film about choosing your own family. All three films have plenty of comedic moments, but mainly rely on their drama to ground them and make a connection. Unfortunately while there is lots of talk (and some songs) about the passage of time and how it affects everyone eventually, there isn’t enough to truly latch on to and deep any deeper. It is a light enough romp that most viewers will walk away from pleased, but unlikely to be an overly memorable one.
Time was seen during the 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival Thank you to the festival for the press pass.
